Tours started at Geocaching Australia in 2011, the first such tourism trail in the world, with the Savannah Way tour. http://geocaching.com.au/tags/view/all/savannah%20way/ At that time the geocaches were collected together by way of a common tag set and were available by running a query to extract the details. http://geocaching.com.au/my/query/gmap/5864 To call them an organised tour would have been generous, but the framework was there to have the first tours featuring geocaches in the world. Since then there have been other collections of geocaches organised into tours including the gold trails at Ballarat and the Eden tour in NSW. The release of the tour functionality at Geocaching Australia formalised the grouping of a collection of geocaches into a tour, with the landing page, maps, lists, GPX and ZIP file downloads making the experience easier for all and sundry to visit an area or region, grab the geocaches and conduct the tour of the area or region.http://wiki.geocaching.com.au/wiki/Tour

Check the two beta tours and let us know whether there are any issues.

Once we have all of the bugs ironed out, we'll be opening tours to the general community to create.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in the idea, creation, generation and testing of the tour capability.

A number of invisible background changes have been made in line with our change to become a secure site (http:// rqather than http://). There should be no impact to anyone or anything, but if you do notice something astray, please report it here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19288

We have also increased the size of the graphs on the site as more people move to wide screen displays. This makes the data somewhat easier to read.

The mountains where the four great dragons live have been shrouded in a strange mist lately. The subjects below are quietly wondering what is happening within the dragons realm, and anxiously waiting for a sign from above....

The small leather pouch by your side has always been empty, and you've had no idea why you carry it around. It must have something to do with dragonZone, but what? Recently, it's given off a shimmering glow. Could it have something to do with the strange activities atop the dragons mountains?

The mist that's been shrouding the mountains is starting to recede, and the four great dragons can now be seen atop their individual peaks, as if to make an announcement. The followers of their clans stand at the foot of the mountain, arms outstretched, holding their leather pouches aloft....

There's been a stirring amongst the dragons. There is a sense amongst them that new powers need to be evoked upon those who follow the path of the dragon. Tomorrow, the dragons shall empower those who choose to take the battle to their rival clans, in ways never imagined....

Followers of dragonZone will discover they now carry an object known simply as their dZbag. This dZbag is capable of holding a quantity of new items, that will be "dropped" from time to time while logging valid dragonZone geocaches. The items that the dZbag can carry offer several new tools that help dragonZoners wield greater influence and control over geocaches than previously possible. In the past, dZ influence over geocaches was acheiveable only through the one-off act of allocating a quantity of points within 7 days of logging a find. The new items allow for manipulation of dZ points beyond what was possible before. There are four new items available to be carried in your new dZbag: Boosters, Controllers, Disruptors and Enhancers. These items may, in the future, be able to be traded.

**Booster**A booster is an item you use to allocate additional dZPoints to a geocache that you have found in the last 180 days. Using a booster is an alternative means of gaining or increasing control of a geocache, versus the normal find and allocation of dZPoints within 7 days of you finding the geocache. Boosters are tradeable items that you obtain by trading it for some of your excess dZPoints. There are 5 levels of Booster, each allocating differing levels of dZPoints to your selected geocache. You can boost a geocache to gain control for you clan, or if your clan is already in control, you can boost the control your clan has, making it that much for difficult for rival clans to gain control. Rival clans can also use boosters of course, so use them wisely to selectively gain control of strategic geocaches, or run rampant and enter into a booster war with your rival clans. The clan who has the most dZPoints wins. Once allocated, you cannot retrieve the booster, even if the geocache is archived. After the booster has been traded there is no further cost in dZPoints to use a booster. Once used, the booster will be removed from your dZBag.

A "10 Point Booster" will allow you to add 10 dZPoints to the selected geocache. The trade cost for a "10 Point Booster" is 100 of your available dZPoints.A "20 Point Booster" will allow you to add 20 dZPoints to the selected geocache. The trade cost for a "20 Point Booster" is 180 of your available dZPoints.A "50 Point Booster" will allow you to add 50 dZPoints to the selected geocache. The trade cost for a "50 Point Booster" is 400 of your available dZPoints.A "100 Point Booster" will allow you to add 100 dZPoints to the selected geocache. The trade cost for a "100 Point Booster" is 600 of your available dZPoints.A "200 Point Booster" will allow you to add 200 dZPoints to the selected geocache. The trade cost for a "200 Point Booster" is 1,000 of your available dZPoints.

**Controller**A controller is an item that will be dropped into your dZbag every now and then, and cannot currently be traded. The only way you have to gain access to controllers is by finding valid dragonZone geocaches, and hoping one or more of the geocaches you've found will drop one. You use a controller to instantly gain joint-or-better control of any valid dragonZone geocache where your clan is not currently in control of the geocache, and you found the geocache in the last 180 days. Instant joint-or-better control will be awarded as soon as you allocate the controller to the geocache, regardless of how far your clan is behind the current clan leader for that geocache. Use a controller on geocaches where you don't have enough boosters to gain control over a geocache where the rival clan is too far ahead in allocated dZPoints. The higher the booster component of your controller, the more you will gain control over that geocache. 4 of the 5 available controllers also have an additional boost available, but these become rarer as the boost increases. Once allocated, you cannot retrieve the controller, even if the geocache is archived. There is no cost in dZPoints to use a controller. Once used, the controller will be removed from your dZBag.

A "Controller +0% Boost" will put your clan in joint control of the geocache.A "Controller +10% Boost" will put your clan in joint control of the geocache and then give you complete control by adding a boost of 10%.A "Controller +20% Boost" will put your clan in joint control of the geocache and then give you complete control by adding a boost of 20%.A "Controller +50% Boost" will put your clan in joint control of the geocache and then give you complete control by adding a boost of 50%.A "Controller +100% Boost" will put your clan in joint control of the geocache and then give you complete control by adding a boost of 100%.

**Disruptor**A disruptor is an item that will be dropped into your dZbag every now and then and cannot currently be traded. The only way you have to gain access to controllers is by finding and hiding valid dragonZone geocaches and hoping one of these geocaches will drop one. Disruptors are used on geocaches that you own, and can be applied at any time to any geocache you own, provided your clan is not in control of the geocache. You cannot use a disruptor on geocaches that you find unless your also own the geocache. Depending on the level of disruptor you use your rival clans will have their dZPoints reduced to your current clans dZPoints and maybe below, but never lower than zero. By disrupting the total number of dZPoints your rival clans have on the geocache, you could then apply a booster, not only gaining control but boosting your control far ahead of your rivals. Disruptors will only be applied to clans that have dZPoints higher than your own clan. Disruptors will not change the dZPoints of any clan that is below your clans total dZPoints on the geocache. If you use a 2 x Top Clan Disruptor on a geocache that has only one clan ahead of your own clan, only one clan will be disrtupted. 2 of the 5 available controllers also have an additional disruption available, but these become rarer as the disruption increases. Once allocated you cannot retrieve the disruptor, even if the geocache is archived. There is no cost in dZPoints to use a disruptor. Once used the disruptor will be removed from your dZBag.

A "Top 1 Clan Disruptor" will reduce the dZPoints of the highest rival clan to match the dZPoints of your own clan. If there are two or more more clans at the same top level of dZPoints the disruptor will be randomly assigned to one clan.A "Top 2 Clan Disruptor" will reduce the dZPoints of the highest two rival clans to match the dZPoints of your own clan. If there are three clans at the same top level of dZPoints the disruptor will be randomly assigned to two clans.A "Top 3 Clan Disruptor" will reduce the dZPoints of the all of higher rival clans to match the dZPoints of your own clan.A "Top 3 Clan +10% Disruptor" will reduce the dZPoints of the all of higher rival clans to match the dZPoints of your own clan and then reduce them by an additional 10%.A "Top 3 Clan +20% Disruptor" will reduce the dZPoints of the all of higher rival clans to match the dZPoints of your own clan and then reduce them by an additional 20%.

**Enhancer**An enhancer is an item that will be dropped into your dZBag every now and then and cannot current be traded. The only way you have to gain access to controllers is by finding valid dragonZone geocaches, and hoping one or more of the geocaches you've found will drop one. An enhancer can only be used on geoaches that you have found in the last 14 days, you have allocated your additional dZPoints, and you have not already applied an enhancer against. An enhancer will enhance the number of dZPoints you originally allocated by a factor ranging between 1 and 10 times. Using an enhancer means you can allocate potentially hundreds of dZPoints to a geocache, boosting your clan lead on individual geocaches by a significant margin. Once allocated you cannot retrieve the enhancer, even if the geocache is archived. There is a cost in your own dZPoints to use a enhancer based on the number of dZPoints you originally allocated. Once used the enhancer will be removed from your dZBag.

A "1X Enhancer" will cost you the same number of dZPoints as your originally allocated and the enhanced dZPoints will be applied to the geocache immediately.A "2X Enhancer" will cost you the twice the number of dZPoints as your originally allocated and the enhanced dZPoints will be applied to the geocache immediately.A "3X Enhancer" will cost you the three times the number of dZPoints as your originally allocated and the enhanced dZPoints will be applied to the geocache immediately.A "5X Enhancer" will cost you the five tinmes the number of dZPoints as your originally allocated and the enhanced dZPoints will be applied to the geocache immediately.A "10X Enhancer" will cost you the ten times the number of dZPoints as your originally allocated and the enhanced dZPoints will be applied to the geocache immediately.

Tours are the joining together of geocaching and visitors who may be interested in touring your area. Using your geocache listings at Geocaching Australia, collected together into a tour you can attract visitors to your local attractions, historical locations, areas of beauty and interest. While visiting your area visitors are also likely to spend money increasing your areas tourism revenue.

You now have the ability to launch your own tour, free of charge. We have done beta testing over the last 6 months, but if bugs are noticed please report them and we'll investigate.